At the intersection of bad marketing, inept regulation, and unwitting consumers, you’ll find the graves of young children, just some of the infants who, according to a new report from ProPublica, have become ill over the decades because Johnson & Johnson and other makers of acetaminophen-based painkillers insisted on selling two youth-targeted varieties of the drug while the FDA did what it does best — nothing. [More]
lawsuits
Passenger Sues US Airways For Allegedly Misplacing Her Husband’s Ashes
By 9.20.13
It’s been two years since the ashes of a Philadelphia-area woman’s late husband went missing during a US Airways flight to England, and she says the airline has been ignoring her ever since. We first told you about her story back in January, but that didn’t turn up the ashes or an explanation. Now she’s filed a lawsuit in the hopes of getting the airline’s attention. [More]
Court: Facebook “Likes” Are Protected Speech, Shouldn’t Get You Fired From Your Job
By 9.18.13
If your boss doesn’t like that you “like” a competitor on Facebook, can you be fired from your job? According to a federal appeals court, the answer is no, as hitting a “like” button on Facebook is Constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment. [More]
Yelp Sues Law Firm Over Allegedly Bogus Reviews
By 9.12.13
The folks at Yelp have decided to get tough with what they believe are businesses that post fake reviews on the site in order to appeal to customers or to counteract genuine, negative feedback from actual customers. The company has sued a small San Diego-based bankruptcy law firm, alleging that it filled its profile with false, positive reviews. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Home Depot Is Shaking Down Accused Shoplifters
By 9.11.13
A new lawsuit aimed at Home Depot claims the company engaged in shakedown tactics to pressure and intimidate thousands of customers, accused of shoplifting, into paying millions of dollars to have those accusations dropped. The class-action suit says Home Depot would threaten customers with a lawsuit if they didn’t pay up, even when they had no intention of actually suing anyone. [More]
Judge Says Strippers Are Employees, Merit Minimum Wage
By 9.11.13
Are dancers at a strip club independent contractors or employees? That’s the question involved in a lawsuit against a popular Manhattan club and in at least one other pending lawsuit against a club in Colorado. [More]
Breaking Bad Fan Sues Apple Over Split 5th Season
By 9.9.13
Our readers, largely people with excellent taste in TV, complained when they realized that buying a “season pass” to download the fifth season of the TV show “Breaking Bad” only entitles them to download the first half of the fifth season. One viewer has taken this a step further, suing Apple. [More]
Judge Denies Class-Action Request In Massive Bank Of America Lawsuit
By 9.6.13
An effort to consolidate 26 separate homeowner lawsuits against Bank of America hit a huge roadblock yesterday when a federal judge ruled that while the individual cases appear to have merit, they can not be heard as a group in a class action. [More]
Another Former College Football Player Sues EA For Using Athletes’ Likenesses In Video Games
By 9.5.13
In the midst of a right to publicity lawsuit (which is part of a larger antitrust lawsuit) currently underway against video game publisher Electronic Arts, another athlete has lawyers filing a proposed class-action suit claiming that EA’s use of college athletes’ names and likenesses in its games is “blatant and unlawful.” [More]
What’s Worse Than A Payday Loan? A Payday Loan Scammer
By 9.4.13
Short-term, high-interest payday loans are illegal in several states, but that doesn’t stop consumers from trying to get their hands on quick cash. So when they see a website offering to hook them up with a payday lender and get them up to $1,000 in about an hour, it may seem like a good deal. That is, until that loan never shows up and the borrower has even less money in her bank account. [More]
Jury Orders Domino’s To Pay $32M In Lawsuit Over Deadly Crash Involving Delivery Driver
By 8.30.13
A Texas jury is holding Domino’s Pizza partially responsible for a car accident involving a delivery driver that killed one woman and left her husband with brain damage. The victims’ family claimed that it was Domino’s fault that the driver was driving in a car with allegedly bald tires. The jury agreed, awarding the family $32 million and saying that Domino’s should have had inspection rules in place to keep such a vehicle off the road. [More]
Lawsuit: Woman Died Because Walmart Didn’t Double-Bag Her Groceries
By 8.29.13
In April of 2010, a Nebraska woman picked up two 46-ounce cans and a two-pound bag of rice at Walmart. The cashier put all of these items in a single bag. The bag broke, causing an injury which became infected. The infection led to the woman’s death. Now her family is suing Walmart, as well as the companies that made and distributed the faulty plastic bag, for wrongful death. [More]
T-Mobile Sues AT&T Subsidiary Over Its Use Of Magenta
By 8.28.13
Chances are you probably don’t even know about AT&T’s Aio Wireless prepaid service, as it’s currently only available in a handful of markets. But the folks at T-Mobile have sued the subsidiary now before the world gets confused by two phone companies that use similar colors. [More]
U.S. Lawsuit Against Bank Of America Given Go-Ahead For Trial
By 8.28.13
It’s been nearly a year since the U.S. government sued Bank of America over Countrywide’s sale of billions of dollars worth of toxic loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Predictably, BofA has attempted to have the case dismissed, but a federal judge has given the green light for the suit to finally head to trial next month. [More]
Tests Find Cancer-Causing Chemical In 98 Personal Care Products
By 8.27.13
Cocamide diethanolamine (cocamide DEA) is a chemically-modified form of coconut oil, sometimes used as a thickener or foaming agent in a number of products. It has also been listed by the state of California as a known carcinogen, meaning manufacturers are required to include a warning on the label. But recent tests found 98 shampoos, soaps, and other personal care products, that contain the chemical but don’t have any warning. [More]
Online Payday Lender Western Sky To Stop Funding Loans Sept. 3
By 8.27.13
If you’ve watched daytime TV in recent years, you’ve more than likely seen ads for Western Sky Financial a payday lender operating out of a tribal reservation in South Dakota. Facing lawsuits from around the country and increased scrutiny from regulators over triple-digit interest rates for its short-term loans, the company has announced it will stop funding new loans on Sept. 3. [More]
Comcast Lawsuit Shows Why Mandatory Binding Arbitration Is Just Plain Evil
By 8.22.13
I know, I know… lots of you hear a phrase like “mandatory binding arbitration” and your eyes gloss over and your mind drifts off like it did when your high school history teacher tried to teach you about the Monroe Doctrine or the Teapot Dome scandal. And that’s exactly how companies like Comcast — and AT&T, Time Warner Cable, American Express, Sony, Microsoft, eBay, and many, many others want you to react. But here’s a decent example of why you should give a hoot about having your rights taken away by a few words in a contract you can’t possibly alter. [More]
Al Jazeera America Sues AT&T Over U-Verse Snub
By 8.21.13
Given that it’s only been on the airwaves since yesterday, you probably haven’t had a chance to check out Al Jazeera America, and if you’re an AT&T U-Verse customer, you can’t watch the new news channel because the cable company doesn’t carry it. However, Al Jazeera’s owners say AT&T is contractually obligated to carry the station and have filed a lawsuit to prove their point. [More]
